A few years ago I complained to my doctor about the arthritic pains I feel at times. His response was: "Well, you're eighty years old. What do you expect?" (In defense of my doctor, my arthritis pains have never come to stay in any particular joint, they come and go in different places.) Perhaps Saskatchewan … Continue reading Scattered thoughts on a rainy Saturday morning
The road home is always shorter
We left home Thursday afternoon to get to Carrot River for the last day of school at Pasquia Hills Christian School. This wasn't only the end of a school term, it was the end of our granddaughter Tami's three years of teaching there. She has other plans for the coming fall and winter. We stopped … Continue reading The road home is always shorter
Birds, tractors and writing
We hang birdfeeders from a post that is visible from our dining room window. There was not much traffic at our goldfinch feeder last year and I wondered why. This spring, when I got that feeder out of the garage I decided to give it a thorough cleaning. I soaked it, scrubbed it, and then … Continue reading Birds, tractors and writing
Let’s take time to talk
Early in the 20th century, settlers poured into Saskatchewan from around the world, lured by the promise of free land that would enable even the poorest to own their own farm. Life wasn't as easy as portrayed by the government advertising, but most people stuck it out through hardships, harsh weather and unexpected setbacks. Despite … Continue reading Let’s take time to talk
The secret life of words
Yesterday we attended church. That sentence makes perfect sense in English, yet attend comes from a French verb meaning wait. We did not go to church to wait. In French we would use the verb assister to tell you that we were present at church during the worship service. Assister also went through a change … Continue reading The secret life of words
Canadian Writers Should Write About Canadian Places and People
I listened to Jake and the Kid every Sunday afternoon on CBC Radio when I was a young lad (I was 14 when the series ended). These were people that I knew. Jake, the Kid, and all the other characters could have been people in my home town. The grass, the fields, the sky, the … Continue reading Canadian Writers Should Write About Canadian Places and People
The Ideal Spouse
Most of us approach marriage with a clear picture in our mind of the characteristics of our ideal spouse. The person we marry never completely fits that picture, but we are sure that with a little coaching and prodding from us, he or she will soon become everything we had imagined. Blessed is the man, … Continue reading The Ideal Spouse
Prairie Pride
A family from one of the US congregations of our church has been in France for two years now, engaging in what I would call pathfinder mission work. By that I mean they are travelling all over France to see if there are people with a hunger for the gospel and Christian fellowship, and to … Continue reading Prairie Pride
A TALE OF THREE TEACHERS
I began Grade One in 1948 and graduated from Grade Twelve in 1959. The first few years were in a one room school and then we moved to a larger town where the school had two grades to a classroom. Most of our teachers did their job effectively and were the sort of persons we … Continue reading A TALE OF THREE TEACHERS
I’m on my way to the freedom land
Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, black people held as slaves on plantations in the southern USA, began to hear stories of a country to the north where black people were free. The hunger for freedom moved some of them to slip away at night and begin the long journey north. Were they courageous or … Continue reading I’m on my way to the freedom land
Flatlander Faith 